US President Donald Trump meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bilateral talks during the G7 summit in Biarritz. (Reuters)In their first meeting after the government scrapped special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 leading to tensions with Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told US President Donald Trump that all issues between India and Pakistan were bilateral and there was no scope for any third-party mediation. G-7 Summit LIVE Updates
“All issues between India and Pakistan bilateral. Don’t want to give pain to any third country. We can discuss and resolve all issues bilaterally,” PM Modi told Trump on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in the French town of Biarritz.
PM Modi’s remarks come after Trump — thrice in the space of a month — had said he would do his best to “mediate” on the Kashmir issue. However, the US has nuanced its position in the past week, calling the issue of Jammu and Kashmir an “internal matter” of India — something that New Delhi has always insisted on.
“India and Pakistan were together before 1947 and I am confident that we can discuss our problems and solve them together. India and Pakistan should work together for the welfare of people of our two nations,” PM Modi told reporters.
PM Modi and US President Donald Trump in Biarritz, France. “He (PM Modi) actually speaks very good English, he just doesn’t want to talk,” Trump said during an interaction with reporters.Speaking to reporters following their meeting, Trump said PM Modi had assured him that the Kashmir situation was under control. “US very good friends with both India and Pakistan. Think India and Pakistan can discuss among themselves and sort it out mutually,” Trump said.
Trump’s statement comes after the US had said that it was concerned about reports of detentions in Kashmir, and urged respect for individual rights and discussions with those in affected communities.
Taking a different tone from his previous offers to serve as a mediator, Trump said, “They speak with Pakistan and I am sure that they will be able to do something that will be very good.”
On August 2, hours after Trump said he would “certainly intervene” on the Kashmir issue if New Delhi and Islamabad wanted him to, India had rejected the suggestion. Significantly, Trump did not reiterate a previous claim that Modi had asked him to intervene, in what was perceived as back-pedalling from his claim last month.
Recently, in a telephonic conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump asked him to tone down the rhetoric against India and avoid escalating tensions over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister arrived in this town on France’s southwestern tip Sunday evening from Bahrain on a personal invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron.
PM Modi, Trump discuss ways to enhance trade
Meanwhile, two months after the US ended special trade treatment for India under a program known as Generalised System of Preferences, Trump said both sides discussed steps to enhance trade ties.
“We are talking about trade, we’re talking about military and many different things. We had some great discussions, we were together last night for dinner and I learned a lot about India,” Trump said.
The preferential trade program gives developing countries easier access to the US market and lowers US duties on their exports. “I have determined that India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets,” Trump had said in a proclamation issued by the White House in June.
